Ed Raub and Bill Ritchie's collaboration in California
in the
Stephen Hicks Collection
"Canoe"
Specifications: Made in 2017. Mini Etching Press in carved and painted wood frame. Equipped with a 6-inch wide, gear-and-rack-driven, 3/8 thick by 14" long bed with safety stops. Rollers are 2 1/4" diameter polished steel. The pressure screws are linked so they stay in sync. With a mechanical advantage of over 6:1, so user can easily print 5 X 7 inch intaglio plates. Made of pine, hand-carved and painted by the artist Ed Raub. Embellished with hand-crafted brass barrel nut fasteners and etched brass medallion and badges. Removable drawer under the rollers. PVC chase, user manual, tools, felt blankets and designer's book, "A printmaker's Tale" included.
Click to see the video showing Ed and Bill getting stasrted
About Stephen Hicks: Stephen saw the Canoe Halfwood Press on the Etsy website. Born and raised in Tacoma and deeply grateful of Native American heritage, he appreciated that the press is a collaboration with Ed Raub. Stephen is an avid letterpress printmaker starting out with Paul Brown at Indiana University and then studied with Jenny Wilkson and Amy Redmond at the School for Visual Concepts in Seattle.
About Ed Raub: He is an enrolled Makah tribal member who has years of carving Northwest Indian Art selling at galleries and tourist shops in Seattle and abroad. His mediums include wood, paper, canvas and paints. He studied Native History, art design, Tlingit language, songs and dances at the University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau campus 2001-2007. Prior to this he graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe New Mexico in 1972.
His teachers in Tlingit Emersion included studies with University Arts professors including Alice Tersteeg; Steve Brown, Steve Henrickson, David Boxely as well as Advanced Carving and design, with several other professors of arts, languages, history and tool-making.
A major project was for a local commercial art installation at the famous Ivar’s Salmon House on Lake Union, 1996 consisting of a 22 ton front entry way, carved and attached to the main building superstructure as well as numerous totem poles and panels displayed around the sides of the building.
Ed hand-carves totem poles and tribal art for resale to private companies and corporations from Seattle to Alaska, including Raven’s Nest Treasure at Pike Place Market. Ninety five percent of such work of carving and painting is seasonal. He produces most of his smaller works in his Seattle home during the Winter/Spring months.
After the first art piece he carved, he eventually took up additional jobs in business as sales manager, representative, bookkeeper and inventory control supervisor of supply, storage and accessibility of items ensuring adequate supplies. These allowed travel to many gift shows and cultural events in many cities nationwide spanning four decades.
About Bill Ritchie: He is a printmaker and press designer living and working in Seattle. He’s a retired art professor (UW/Seattle 1966-1985) and develops tools, supplies and sofware under his company, Emeralda Works. He and his wife own the Mini Art Gallery. Bill Ritchie’s press design work began in 2004, partnering with the Kughler Company - also in Seattle - to produce a line of designer etching presses known as the Halfwoods, as well as a miniature model patterned after the 17th Century press used by Rembrandt.
Bill also likes to write back stories based on his press designs, including a legend in which the Halfwood press is found in a ship’s wreckage by Native Americans in the 1700’s which was then carved with their unique art.
It was to extend the idea in his tale that led Bill to introduce himself to Ed Raub and to propose the collaboration which resulted in the Canoe Halfwood Press’ making.
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